Scrums: Are we all taking crazy pills?

With Justin Trudeau missing from the Commons Thursday, Marc Garneau handled the first Liberal question to the government, and it sounded very much like something the New Democrats might have asked – especially given it was about their photo op from the day before.

“Last fall, the minister of finance went into a bicycle shop to announce and promote measures related to his omnibus budget bill,” Garneau began. However, this spring, in his budget, he announced increases to the bicycle import taxes that would affect that very same shop owner. The Conservatives say this is not a tax, but yesterday the shop owner said that this is going to hurt his business.”

At this point, a few of the NDP members were chuckling. The party’s House Leader, Nathan Cullen, turned in his seat and looked a few rows back to his colleague, MP Murray Rankin, who hosted that event.

Across the way, with the prime minister on his way back from London and not in the House, Heritage Minister James Moore stood to reply. He apparently had two goals – the two goals the Conservatives have set out to achieve over the next two years, probably: discredit Justin Trudeau and reinforce their own record. In that order.

“I know in the last couple of days the new Liberal leader has expressed an interest in getting to the root causes of things,” Moore started, referring to an answer Trudeau gave the CBC when asked about the Boston Marathon bombings.

And here, one might have expected the minister to go on. Yes? And? But? Nothing. He simply moved on to his other point.

“The member opposite used the word ‘lying’. Well, what is clearly not true is any attempt to suggest that this government has done anything other than lower taxes time and again for Canadians.”

Hmm. What about the tax and tariff hikes at the back of the budget.

Garneau said the government’s plan to raise tariffs for countries like China and India was a poor call, “at a time of record debt level, high unemployment and stagnant wages.” It was the “worst possible thing” the Conservatives could do, he said.

Again, Moore – like Secretary of State for Finance, Ted Menzies, did Wednesday – pointed to the government’s record, saying that “the average family in Canada pays $3,200 less in taxes because the Conservatives are in government.”

Then, he pondered aloud on what he’d heard from Garneau.

“The hypocrisy of the Liberals is really quite something,” he marveled. “They come to this House and say that we need to do something to support Canadian manufacturing, and then they beg the government to put in place a special deal for China to dump goods in this country. It is outrageous.”

A few minutes shy of 3 pm Thursday, the New Democrats had a few more questions for the government on tariffs and how they might affect common household goods.

“Conservatives are raising taxes on over 1,200 everyday items from brooms to bikes to iPods,” New Democrat Andrew Cash told the House, just after scolding Toronto MPs for not doing enough about what he said was the city’s 15 per cent youth unemployment rate. “Why are Conservatives delivering less and less for cities while taking more and more money out of the pockets of already squeezed urban Canadians?”

As he did Wednesday, Minister of State for Finance, Ted Menzies, stood to give a response.

“The only thing the NDP would deliver is a $21 billion carbon tax. I do not think that is what Canadians want,” he started. “The NDP continues to fight for special breaks for companies from China and India.”

As it happens, the Conservatives have lowered tariffs hockey gear – most of which comes from China. Except for helmets. Those aren’t covered.

NDP MP Annick Papillion then stood to ask much the same question as Cash (minus the Toronto-specific references) and, again, Menzies was the go-to man on the government side.

“I might remind the honourable member that Canadian taxes are the lowest they have been in 50 years,” Menzies said. “That is no thanks to the NDP. Every time we put forward a tax credit for Canadians, or lower their taxes, the NDP votes against that. It is time NDP members started recognizing what drives this economy and they should stop beating up on Canadians.”

We have on our hands a somewhat confusing situation in the House of Commons these days, where it seems as though, moment by moment, everyone could be either be labeled as anti-trade or pro-trade, or anti-Canadian or pro-Canadian, or anti-world or pro-world.

The supposedly free-trade Conservatives are fighting in favour of raising tariffs to protect manufacturers. The NDP would prefer they stayed low to keep the cost of living lower.